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Panic spiked, and my composed mask shattered. “Stop!” I shrieked, completely losing my calm façade. “Let me go!”
Acting on blind instinct, I wrenched my keys out of my purse and swung. Before the sharp metal could connect with his face, a terrible snarl ripped through the air, and Gavin’s pawing hands were jerked away from my body. He fell back, his arms flailing for balance. A familiar dark shadow shoved my assailant farther away from me. Gavin tripped down the stairs and hit the pavement with a bone-shattering crack.
Max was on him before the ragged cry finished leaving his chest. My protector’s meaty fist slammed into Gavin’s jaw, and his head snapped to the side. He drew his fist back again, pummeling the man who’d groped me.
A sharp exclamation to my right tore my horrified focus away from the two men. A middle-aged couple had stopped on the sidewalk several yards away. The man’s arm clasped the woman tight to his side, edging his body between hers and the violence unfolding at my feet. Her hand was clapped over her chest, and her eyes were wide. “Call the police!” she urged her partner.
A thrill of alarm shuddered through me. The cops couldn’t come here. They’d arrest Max for assault. And he’d be implicated in a police report with my name in it. If I wanted to keep him off my dad’s radar, I couldn’t allow that to happen.
“Max!” I cried, turning my attention back to the grappling men. Gavin was sprawled beneath him, blood splattering the pavement and dripping from his split lips. “Max, stop!”
My dark protector went rigid, freezing with his fist pulled back in midair. I hurried toward them and clasped his shoulder before he could change his mind. Powerful muscles rippled and flexed beneath my touch, but he didn’t take his eyes off my attacker.
Gavin’s eyes were wild, his bloody lips slack with horror. Was that terrified expression the same one that’d contorted my features the first time I’d seen Max’s scarred, rage-twisted face?
My heart ached, and my hand firmed on his shoulder. “You have to stop,” I said gently. “Someone will call the cops.”
His fist dropped, but he lowered his snarling face closer to Gavin’s. My bully squirmed and tried to scramble away. Max grabbed his shirt, trapping him under his menacing scowl.
“Never touch her again.” The words were so gravelly that they were barely discernible, but Gavin nodded with a shaky jerk of his head.
“I won’t. I swear. I didn’t. Jesus…” He babbled beneath the crushing weight of Max’s rage and the terrifying sight of his damaged face, twisted with dark retribution.
Max recoiled from Gavin as though my bully was suddenly toxic. He shoved to his feet, positioning his big body between me and my tormentor. I peeked around his bulky frame, keeping my eyes on the threat even as I huddled behind my protector.
My keys were still in my fist, the metal digging into my palm with the intensity of my grip. Max had spared me from having to gouge Gavin’s face. There wasn’t so much as a speckle of blood on my hand.
But Max’s knuckles were painted red with Gavin’s blood. He appeared entirely unharmed, but my bully huddled on the pavement, moaning and clutching his right arm. I remembered the sickening crack when he’d fallen down the stairs, and I wondered if he’d broken bone.
Something savage seared the inside of my chest. I hoped it hurt like hell. Judging by the tears streaming down his face, diluting the crimson blood that dripped from his lips, Gavin was in a lot of pain.
Good. He’d caused me an ocean of pain over the years. He’d followed me home, groped me, and left bruises on my skin. I wasn’t sure what else he would’ve done to me if Max hadn’t come to my defense.
“Leave,” Max seethed, his chest rising and falling on heavy breaths. He hadn’t even broken a sweat, but his entire body practically thrummed with suppressed violence.
Gavin stumbled to his feet, cringing when his arm shifted at the movement. He cradled it to his chest, blinking hard as more tears fell. His navy eyes shifted to me, fear morphing into familiar contempt. “Is this your boyfriend, Freckles?”
Max’s body went eerily still. “Don’t look at her. Look at me.” His voice was a harsh rasp, and I resisted the urge to step away from his palpable menace.
Instead, I edged closer to him, keeping the solid barrier between Gavin and me. My bully could easily harm me, but Max had made it abundantly clear that the spoiled rich boy couldn’t hurt him.
“Never come here again.” That same gravelly, bone-chilling tone. “Don’t talk to her. Don’t breathe the same air as her. If you do, I’ll know.”
Gavin’s tanned skin paled, and he swallowed hard before he managed to gather some false bravado. His chin jutted up as he sneered, “And what are you going to do about it, ugly?”
